The runway is the starting and ending point for aircraft flight operations. Runways represent the foundational technology component underlying the entire national airspace and air traffic systems. Many runways were designed and built in the early and mid 1900s. With few innovative conceptual changes along the way, the rules and procedures for landing and takeoff remain largely the same today.
As airport traffic count increases, airport authorities work to manage growth by building new passenger terminals and additional runways. Expansion plans are limited due to the lack of land, building funds or community approval. This is common at major airports throughout the world where roads, railroads, communities and industries have sprouted up around airfields' perimeter fences. Some airports, such as Logan and Regan-National, are constrained by surrounding water.
To solve the delay problem, airport authorities and users are asking for more runways and state-of-the-art space based air traffic systems. These modernizations and upgrades are costly and can take many years to complete. On occasion, airport upgrades are outdated before completion. There is little to no funding for improving existing runway capacity to handle more arrivals and departures. It is assumed by many that an existing runway cannot increase traffic count without jeopardizing safety. Therefore, the conventional solution is to build a new runway, to increase capacity. That solution is viewed essentially as the only choice for increasing capacity, because runway capacity increases cannot be achieved using today's runways and rules which allow one aircraft—one runway (landing or takeoff) at a time.